MA Study Guide 2026
Everything you need to pass the MA exam in one place: the exam format, every topic to study, real practice questions with explanations, flashcards, and full-length practice tests. Free, no sign-up needed.
📚 MA Topics to Study (21)
✍️ Sample MA Questions & Answers
1. In epistemology, the 'Gettier problem' challenged the classical definition of knowledge as justified true belief by showing that:
Edmund Gettier provided cases where an agent has a justified true belief that we would not call knowledge, demonstrating that JTB is insufficient for knowledge.
2. Which concept describes the process by which individuals learn the norms, values, and behaviors of their society?
Socialization is the lifelong process through which individuals internalize the norms, values, beliefs, and behaviors appropriate to their culture and social roles.
3. What does 'deviance' mean in sociological terms?
Sociological deviance refers to any behavior, belief, or characteristic that violates significant social norms, whether or not it is illegal.
4. Which of the following best characterizes the philosophical method known as 'phenomenology,' as developed by Edmund Husserl?
Husserl's phenomenology is a first-person, descriptive method focused on the intentional structures of conscious experience, bracketing questions about external reality through the epoché.
5. Which treaty ended World War I?
The Treaty of Versailles (1919) formally ended WWI, imposing significant reparations and territorial losses on Germany.
6. Which term describes a novel that follows a protagonist's moral and psychological growth from youth to adulthood?
A bildungsroman is a coming-of-age novel tracing the psychological and moral development of the protagonist from youth to adulthood.